Nick Saban assumes the role of Ohio State football hero with a chance to deliver Michigan football its karma — Jimmy Watkins

CLEVELAND, Ohio — College football’s soul needs cleansing, and the sport’s soul crusher has been tasked with the honors.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban runs an evil empire. His Crimson Tide have never been (credibly) accused of cheating, but its charmed existence has always felt a tad unfair. Saban lands a top-three recruiting class every year (literally true since 2018). Alabama regularly ranks top five among college football’s richest programs. And whenever the Tide lands on the College Football Playoff bubble, the resume math usually bends their direction.

But ahead of Monday evening’s Rose Bowl matchup with top-ranked Michigan, Saban’s death star is fighting for a good cause. His opponent has soiled this season with its sign-stealing controversy. And though Wolverines coach Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has already served a three-game suspension, few college football fans — particularly none from this state — believe justice has been served.

So when the College Football Playoff kicks off in Pasadena, Alabama will play with unusual support from a northern rival. In the eyes of Ohio State supporters, the Tide represents a karmic force. What goes around comes around, and the asterisk with which a Michigan championship would come cannot go unchecked.

Luckily, Saban’s team has a history of imposing order.

Alabama has won six national championships and appeared in three more national championship games (nine total) since Saban took over in 2007. Every time the program loses its superpowers — or, more accurately, appears to — it comes back stronger. And every opposing fan base can attest to the helplessness they feel rooting against the Tide’s inertia.

Michigan sampled those emotions earlier this month when the Playoff committee announced this season’s participants. Live shots of UM’s watch party captured groans and scattered applause when the Wolverines learned they would play Alabama. Maybe they believed fifth-ranked Florida State had earned the spot. Or maybe they knew the Tide doesn’t lose on this stage.

During the Playoff Era, Saban is 6-1 in semifinal games. He hasn’t lost one since eventual champion Ohio State beat him in 2014. Michigan’s “reward” for securing college football’s top seed is bucking that trend.

Among the Wolverines’ wronged parties, however, this matchup feels right. Michigan deserves to feel a step slow after playing two ahead against Big Ten opponents. Its championship burden of proof should be higher after two seasons of smearing evidence. And strange as it sounds, Saban’s Tide has earned the protagonist title in Monday’s Rose Bowl.

Nobody likes rooting for dynasties. And no Buckeye fan can forget Saban blocking Ohio State’s title path in 2020, when Alabama beat Ohio State 52-24 in the championship game; or in 2017, when the Tide made the Playoff over the Big Ten-champion Buckeyes.

But if Michigan wins a national championship after three straight rivalry wins? No outcome could sting worse.

Alabama may be a Buckeye villain, but Michigan is an OSU crook. When the Wolverines ride Rose Bowl floats, Ohio State fans see getaway cars. They see stolen signals, victories and momentum. They don’t see anyone who deserves that stage.

When Saban’s team rides appear on screen, it still conjures bad memories. It still invites chatter about college football’s parity problem. But at least the Tide’s aura is legitimate. At least Saban isn’t Harbaugh. And at least if Alabama rolls to a seventh national championship since 2007, it will use its evil powers for good.

Maybe 12-1 Alabama didn’t deserve this playoff appearance as much as 13-0 Florida State. But college football deserves a wholesome champion. Its playoff trophy should be hoisted by clean hands. And ahead of Monday’s Rose Bowl, only two words can keep protect this sport’s soul from an evil ruler:

Roll Tide.